Member’s Newsletter August 2023
Dear member,
You will have seen our call on the Ministers of Finance and Communications to take measures to prevent invoice redirection and to prevent scam calls texts and emails. We have heard nothing yet, but we will keep you informed Unfortunately, we continue to hear back from members about the latest fraud perpetrated against them. These frauds are increasingly sophisticated, so we ask you to be really vigilant and to keep your staff on alert.
The proposed increase in the National Minimum Wage of 12.4% suggested by the Low Pay Commission for January is absolutely massive, and will not just affect those on the NMW, but most workers earning up to €30,000 per annum. ISME has argued that not alone is this increase too big, but it won’t deliver for workers either since most services businesses will simply cut their hours.
We have also stated it publicly in the Irish Examiner, some sectors such as services and manufacturing will simply cut hours to pay for labour cost increases In those sectors which cannot cut hours, such as nursing home care and childcare, price increases are inevitable. It is important for you to pass this on to your local political representatives.
You will also have seen the recent suggestion from ICTU that the sub-minimum rates of pay for younger workers are discriminatory. This is outrageous and implies that apprentice rates and incremental pay for civil servants are also discriminatory on age grounds If 16-year-old employees are to be paid the same rates as adults, then employers will give up on employing inexperienced young labour. We have made our position clear to the Department of Enterprise and to the Low Pay Commission.
It is a very dynamic time in labour law - a lot is happening both in Europe and in the Irish courts Make sure you stay up to date with our Employment Law Updates, they are very valuable and informative.
Don’t forget- If you need money, use the ISME FINANCE FINDER!
Lastly, a date for your diary: please put the afternoon of Friday 17th November in your diary to celebrate ISME’s 30th anniversary. Following a survey of members’ preferences in July, we will hold our anniversary lunch in Clontarf Castle. This will be a big event, with Ministerial and guest attendance, and you are invited to bring your staff as an early Christmas function I will be in a position to bring you further details in the September monthly, but PLEASE KEEP 17TH NOVEMBER FREE IN YOUR DIARY!
Kilkenny Welding Supplies Limited
Novostrat Limited
Eirpoint
FirePro Logistics limited
CareChoice Group
Life Planning
FlexOps
BoardX Limited
Peak Connexxion
O'Regan Motors
Kelly Hunter Trading Ltd
The ISME Finance Finder, powered by Swoop, is offering a free 30-minute one-to-one consultation clinic. The consultations are provided on a no obligation and confidential basis.
The Swoop team provide expertise and professionalism based on their deep knowledge of the lending market both in Ireland and in the UK. During the consultation they can address such key questions as:
• Who are the key players?
• What does it mean for your business?
• What small business loans or funding is available for SMEs? Plus
• They can advise and review your business’s specific requirements?
You may want to start or expand your business, improve cashflow, refinance debt, acquire a business, purchase property, stock or invest in a new market…then there are funding opportunities available to you. Now may not be the time to apply for a loan but the Swoop team will look at your business to see if it’s loan-ready or give advice on what you need to do before applying for funding and show you the options available.
There are 3 ways to connect and set up your free consultation:
• Click here to fill out a form
• Email isme@swoopfunding.com
• Phone +353 1 270 7658
Visit the ISME Finance Finder here
ISME 30 Years
To launch our 30 years celebration, ISME will be hosting a 30 Years Business Lunch in the Clontarf Castle Hotel, Dublin on Friday 17th November, 1.00-5.00pm
Put this date in your diary and please bring along your staff and clients. Mix and network with fellow businesspeople, enjoy a four-course lunch and celebrate 30 years of ISME. Full details including the guest speakers will be announced soon. To register your interest please contact marketing@isme.ie.
Share your memories of ISME
We want to gather as much material as we can about ISME, particularly of the early years –1993-2003. We are asking members to share any photos, videos or documents you might have. Perhaps you were at an ISME event, attended a meeting or want to send in photos of your business – if so please send them to marketing@isme.ie.
Proposed minimum wage increase will not deliver for workers
ISME is concerned that the big increase in the minimum wage planned by the Low Pay Commission for next year will be unaffordable for many small businesses. Our concerns include:
• A 12.4% increase in the National Minimum Wage will increase the gross wage bill for an employee on the national minimum wage (NMW) by €3,153 pa.
• That excludes the cost of Brigid’s Day bank holiday introduced this year (€110) and the contingent cost of five days statutory sick pay (€550).
• Auto-enrolment will add €386 in wage costs to an employee on the NMW.
• This won’t just impact workers on the NMW. The basic NMW rate works as a benchmark rate for most wages up to €30,000.
• Unless that additional €3,000 can be recovered from customers through price increases, it will result in reduced hours or a higher productivity requirement from employees.
• For workers in sectors where the employer can’t pass the cost on, this will mean that, at best, they will earn the same amount next year as they did in 2023.
• This will severely impact high-wages services jobs: childcare, nursing homes, convenience retail, grooming, hospitality.
• We already see convenience retailers reduce labour cost through automation and introduction of self-check-out. The labour cost of retail ranges from 8% (German discounters) to 20% (small convenience). This would mean grocery price rises of 1% to 2.5%.
Read full details here.
Summer Spending
We are currently running a Summer Spending campaign encouraging people to Think Local for holidays, activities, entertainment and shopping. ISME Members can advertise for free so please add your details here if you would like your business featured or to update your existing ad in our Shop Local portals. To find out more please contact marketing@isme.ie
ISME calls on Government to urgently tackle fraud on businesses
We have asked the Government to introduce measures as a matter of urgency, that will help tackle and reduce business fraud in Ireland. If successfully implemented, these simple suggested steps will reduce fraud and save small businesses from severe financial loss. Currently the cost of fraud to the SME sector is conservatively estimated at €310 million annually.
Tackling business fraud crosses a range of government departments and state agencies, so ISME is contacting the Minister for Finance; Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment; the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications; the Central Bank; ComReg and the Gard
The top three measures to tackle basic online and telephone fraud are:
1. Tackling email compromise – with good workplace security and password policy. Email compromise is used to carry out invoice redirect fraud, or to circulate malware or ransomware, through phishing or social engineering. Service providers must do more to stop email compromise at source.
2. Tackling scam texts and calls – with the installation of filters capable of detecting incoming fake calls or texts. Large numbers of businesses and consumers have been victims of “smishing” texts which purport to originate from service providers. ComReg estimates the cost alone of these scam calls and texts in Ireland to be in the region of €300m per annum. The technology to disrupt scam texts and calls exists. It simply must be rolled out to all manufacturers and network operators.
3. Tackling invoice redirect fraud – with Confirmation of Payee (CoP) technology for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) payments. Fraudulent EFT activity has significantly increased in Ireland recently as legitimate IBAN changes have occurred because of the closure of Ulster Bank and KBC. EFT payments in Ireland rely fully on the payee IBAN to affect the payment, yet payee details are not cross-checked by banks against the IBAN on record for that payee. CoP requires a bank to match the payee IBAN with the name of the payee on file, and if the IBAN does not match the payee name, the payment will not be processed. There is no reason Irish banks should not immediately roll out CoP.
Read full details here.
Q1 2023 Trends Survey
How did your business find the first quarter of 2023? In an ever-changing business environment, we want to hear from you on how your organisation has been impacted by completing our Trends Survey for Q1 2023 here.
Please share this survey with your network.
Review of occupations eligible for employment permits
Neale Richmond TD, Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail launched on 26th June a review of the occupations on the Critical Skills Occupation List and Ineligible Occupations List for employment permits and has called for employers and stakeholders to make a submission.
Submissions are invited from representative bodies, Government Departments, Agencies, and other interested parties to a public consultation to review the eligibility of occupations appearing on the Critical Skills Occupations List and the Ineligible Occupations List for employment permits.
If you feel that there are skills/labour shortages or surpluses in relation to occupations in your sector and that these are adversely affecting your industry, you are invited to make a submission.
You should include in your submission any relevant actors that you consider are impacting on your sector so that consideration can be given to making adjustments to the lists, for example, data on the skills or labour shortages, information on recruitment efforts undertaken, retention difficulties, relevant training incentives, impact on business, expansion plans etc., and any other evidence or data such as industry surveys or reports and views within your sector.
Submissions will only be accepted using the form made available on the department’s website and will be open from Monday, 26 June 2023 with a closing date of Friday, 18 August 2023. Find out more here.
Business Saving with ISME
Take a look at the most recent addition to the ISME ADVANTAGE Affinity programme from ISME Member business AJ Products .
ISME Members get 10% discount on orders over €250 for office furniture, school furniture, warehouse shelving and more. Other benefits include free standing desks installations, free delivery on orders over €199 (ex VAT) and a 7-year warranty. Find out more details about the programme here.
ISME HR Hub – your HR support
To support Members to deal with the ever-changing world of HR and employment law, we have created a portal to give you access to guides, templates, contracts, policies and more to support you in managing HR in your business. We have curated the information based on the HR Life Cycle: Attraction, Recruitment, Onboarding, Policies & Training, Performance Management and Exit.
You can also find information from government agencies and other third parties in our General Information & Resources page, links to the top downloads and view our selection of blogs including Statutory Sick Pay FAQs and EU Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions.
To find out how it works and looks, click on the video about the portal here. To use the ISME HR Hub log into the Members Area, click on the top left button.
Health & Safety Authority Update
The HSA are delighted to have reached a huge milestone with BeSMART.ie with over 100,000 users.
• SunSMART Employee Information sheet is written primarily for employees and safety representatives to raise awareness about the risk of skin cancer from sun exposure.
• New Code of Practice for Indoor Air Quality provides practical guidance as to the observance of the provisions of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 299 of 2007), as amended by S.I 255 of 2023. This Code of Practice comes into operation on 26th May 2023. Notice of the publication of this Code of Practice was published in Iris Oifigiúil on 6th June 2023.
• Use Chemicals Safely – Read the Label information sheet provides information about how to read the label on containers – in particular, understanding the dangerous properties of a chemical. The information sheet also provides information about hazard pictograms.
• Using Chemicals safety at home and in the garden information sheet provides guidance about the safe use of chemical in both the home and garden.
• Information Leaflet: Risk Assessment of Chemical Hazards is intended to help employers in assessing the risks that relate to chemical agents in the workplace and in determining adequate precautions or control measures to safeguard health and safety.
Healthy Workplace
The Healthy Workplace Framework is a government strategy to enhance the health and wellbeing of Ireland’s workers. A committee led by the Department of Health and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment oversaw the development of this Framework and set the strategic direction for workplace policies and programmes to enhance the health of workers.
A new Healthy Workplace website was recently launched and features interactive tools to facilitate the delivery and evaluation of health and wellbeing initiatives in workplaces of any size. This website aims to be the one-stop-shop for everything you need to make your workplace a Healthy Workplace It is designed to cater for the needs of public and private organisations and is targeted towards members of staff from Wellness/Health Promotion, Human Resources, Occupational Health, Health & Safety, decision-makers in senior management, and employees hoping to champion a Healthy Workplace.
Find out more on https://healthyworkplace.ie/
SEAI Energy Supports
The Government announced in July approved amendments to the existing Non-Domestic Microgeneration Scheme, to extend supports to a wider range of businesses and non-domestic applicants. The Non-Domestic Microgen Grant provides financial assistance to help businesses, farms, schools, community centres, or other non-profit organisations to install Solar PV panels to generate electricity on site.
Always get advice from a registered professional. Before you commit to purchasing and installing upgrades or investments, check if there is an SEAI grant available here.
SEAI run a series of briefings throughout the year on how your business can save money and energy this year, find out more here.
Events
Astropark Focus Ireland Business Cup Thursday 7th September, 4.00-10.00pm, Astropark, Coolock, Details here.
TechConnect Live/Sales & Marketing Summit Thursday 14th September 9.00am-4.00pm, RDS Hall 4, register here.
